The Exception To The Rule...

... this One Freaking Time, I have to admit that I agree that Big Tobacco has a solid point.  And the legal upper hand, as well as the ethical high ground.  I don't talk about it a lot on this blog, so let me be clear in saying I despise smoking, and was addicted as hell for over a decade.  I fought hard for my freedom.  However, if it is a legal activity / substance, this is beyond stupid.  The warnings are fair, though it has already been shown there were a mild deterrent at best.  Graphic pictures aren't going to stop people from smoking. It's going to make a great business opportunity for cigarette cases.


Nobody would ever dare print pictures of people killed by drunk drivers on every case of beer.  This isn't about defending tobacco, it's about boundaries for legal activities that while distasteful to some, are still completely legal.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Four of the five largest U.S. tobacco companies sued the federal government Tuesday over new graphic cigarette labels that include the sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs, saying the warnings violate their free speech rights and will cost millions of dollars to print.

The companies, led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co., said the warnings no longer simply convey facts to allow people to make a decision whether to smoke. They instead force them to put government anti-smoking advocacy more prominently on their packs than their own brands, the companies say. They want a judge to stop the labels.

"Never before in the United States have producers of a lawful product been required to use their own packaging and advertising to convey an emotionally-charged government message urging adult consumers to shun their products," the companies wrote in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C.